Music of the night
by chloemcg
Summary: One-shot. Estelle can't sleep due to her concerns of Phaeroh but discovers that Yuri and Repede have gone absent. But when she goes to find them, she makes a shocking discovery.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Tales of vesperia, the rights to the characters and everything else belong to their rightful owners.**

**Music of the night**

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It was a quiet night as the newly-formed group, Brave Vesperia, decided to take a rest stop for the night in the clearing of some forest.

The night wind blew gently and created a gentle breeze that was a bit chilly but bearable all the same, the tree branches were creaking softly and the blades of grass quivered a little against the gentle slivers of air that brushed the world and harmonised with the Aer of the atmosphere.

Karol, Judith, Raven, practically _everyone_ in the area was fast asleep by this point and there was not a soul awake...or thats how it appeared at first anyway.

Estellise couldn't sleep. She had her eyes closed as she tossed and turned to try and get into a comfortable position but, no matter how much she had tried to sink into the dark depths of sleep, it just refused to come to her tonight. As a princess, she had been raised to expect the finer things in life even if that meant her being locked away in some dark and lonesome tower, but even still she wouldn't give up the freedom for all the luxuries this world had to offer.

But it wasn't so much as not having a comfortable bed that kept her awake:

It was that she just felt this stirring deep inside her soul that she couldn't ignore no matter how much she wanted to. All that was on her mind were the questions she wished to ask the giant talking bird monster, named Phaeroh, and to ask what the giant talking bird what it meant when it had told her "The insipid poison must be purged from this world."

She had a feeling that Phaeroh was talking about her...but she had no clue as to why.

It plagued her mind non-stop.

Estelle squeezed her eyelids frustratedly when she realised that sleeping was practically a futile endeavour. She didn't want to admit defeat when she needed some sleep but she was sure it had been hours and there was only so long somebody could try and fall asleep.

Reluctantly, the pinkette Princess peeled her eyelids open and took a quick surveying glance at her surroundings —she blinked repeatedly to rid her eyes of the crusty sleep that stubbornly clung to her eyelashes

It was really dark but not too dark that she couldn't see much.

The skies were a dark navy blue with stars dotting the night skyline, the brightest star being one that was all too familiar —Vesperia— and there was absolutely no hint of morning coming for at least a couple of hours. Everyone was asleep around her, snuggling deep into their sleeping bags, and the fire had long since sizzled out, smoke raising from the fire pit in the middle of the campsite. The brightness of that single bright star (Vesperia) in the sky was the only thing lighting up the campsite without the fire.

But it was about three seconds more of soaking in her surroundings that she finally noticed something that made her heart skip a beat:

Yuri nor Repede were anywhere in sight.

The swordsman and his dog had vanished completely from the camp!

Estelle basically leapt to her feet and started to wildly look around for them, her heart leaping high into her throat and pounding like there was no tomorrow. What if the knights caught up to them? What if Yuri had been taken prisoner? What if he needed help!? No, he would have sorted the latter of those options himself given how clever and streetwise he was.

She tried to calm and centre herself.

Panicking would not bring her answers.

The princess opened her mouth in preparation to shout and wake everyone up so they could help her search for their two missing comrades, she didn't wish to disturb the sleep of her friends but this was urgent. However she strained her ears to listen to something that was distant yet the wind carried it to her ears. The more she listened, the more she could tell that the noise sounded much like...music? It was soft and very faint due to the distance but it was still discernible and she could definitely make out that it was, in fact, music. She had to wonder whether this sound could have something to do with Yuri's disappearance?

What would such a sound be doing in the middle of a forest?

Curiosity started to get the better of her.

Maybe she could investigate?

Maybe she should investigate?

The pink-haired princess took a moment to gather her thoughts before she started to tentatively creep through the campsite, hoping to avoid awaking everyone else; she crept across the grass on her tip-toes and she inwardly cringed each time she would hear a soft "crunch" beneath her feet. She would feel a shot of panic pound through her before glancing back to check if she awoke anyone but felt better that she hadn't.

She followed the sound as it carried itself across the wind and reached her ears.

Estelle's heart fluttered at the lovely melodies as she got closer and closer to its source, the closer she got she could tell that the music sounded soothing and quite lovely. She felt as though any worries she had were beginning to melt away like snow melting from the heat, she could tell that it was having a rather pacifying effect on her soul.

She couldn't help but smile.

The noise...it was so enchanting.

She lost track of time as she followed the sounds and she eventually found herself wandering into a different forest clearing then the one that the others were sleeping at, she found that it didn't take long until she was finally in range. She eventually found herself stooping down and hiding behind a bunch of bushes, peering carefully through the leaves to see if she could finally see what the noise was. She had to squint her eyes so she could see through the perpetual darkness.

The princess could make out a few things thanks to the starlight but that was the only sort of luminescence she had.

Estelle felt her heart practically drop to the ground at what she saw.

Just a short distance away sat Yuri, leaning in a reclining posture with his back pressed up against a large tree trunk, and the back of his head resting against the wooden surface. Strangely, Yuri seemed quite focused on something and the source of his focus was perched atop his lap. It didn't take too much effort to discern that the thing was a guitar...and that was what the source of the music was.

Repede was curled up into a ball alongside his owner, clearly having been lulled to sleep by his owner's soft singing.

Estelle felt nothing but intrigue as she decided to keep observing.

The kind-hearted yet snarky rogue had closed his eyes as he rested the body of the guitar on his knees, strumming the strings to play a gentle riff on the mahogany instrument. His fingertips firmly brushed against the twines that vibrated each time he'd work his fingers against playing each note.

He folded his legs in a pretzel knot as he sat on the ground, weaving beautiful songs.

He couldn't deny that he felt very much at peace with an acoustic guitar in his hands, especially when he was all by his lonesome with only his own thoughts and the tunes he played to keep him company and, even though he had recently accepted a couple of new companions, he couldn't help but feel just a tad embarrassed about his sneaking off to do his thing —the only one who knew of this was Repede, heck, sometimes the dog would simply settle down beside him and fall to sleep with a low and melodic hum.

This was the case right now, in fact.

Of course, Yuri would rather die than admit that he didn't like anybody knowing of this side of him; It was true that on one hand he couldn't care less yet he also felt like the less people know the better. All of the bad thoughts and anger that ran through his mind would seem to evaporate into thin air the second his fingers would delicately brush a few strings on the mahogany musical instrument.

He just closed his eyes and just stayed absorbed in this blissful reverie.

To add more to his unknowing observers shock, Yuri started to hum softly, he sung softly to harmonise with the riff he was playing.

He strummed the guitar and sung as quietly as possible as he weaved a peaceful atmosphere that added a rather sleepy and restful environment. He was clearly in a zone that couldn't be easily shattered and it was one that made all of his troubles just melt away, it just was so tranquil. His voice carried a edge as sharp as the tip of a sword and, thanks to him having a rich baritone voice, he sounded quite experienced with using his singing voice.

To put it simply, his voice was as smooth as butter.

Estelle could not believe her ears, she never knew how not only Yuri could play a guitar but how experienced and gentle his singing voice was. She just never thought he had this side to him because he acted so snarky, cynical and sarcastic a lot of the time; she wondered how many more things he was hiding about himself? She could feel her heart melt a bit at his voice...but shook her head to herself.

She could not start thinking like that!

As much as she hated to break Yuri from his peaceful guitar-playing, she needed to find out what was going on here. She came out from behind the bush she knelt in front of and got to her own two feet. She treaded lightly to try and avoid startling Yuri since he seemed really preoccupied with strumming the strings of his guitar and singing gently along to what he was playing to even notice she was there.

Estelle walked up to him, keeping silent, until she stopped a good metre or two away. She stayed silent for a moment before she finally spoke up, trying to grab the long-haired vigilante's attention in the process.

"Yuri?"

Yuri jumped to his feet, eyes widened in their sockets, and whirled around to gaze at Estelle in surprise. He even grabbed up the mahogany string instrument and promptly swung it behind his back to try and hide it —he looked frantic but had a panicked smile as he tried (in vain) to act natural and not suspicious.

"A-AHHH!" His face pretty much relaxed the instant he spotted the princess stood in behind him. He attempted to keep his guitar concealed behind his back with one hand and used the other hand to grab at his chest to try and calm his racing heart. Still his voice became stern as he sputtered with a tone that dripped with sarcasm.

"J-Jeez. Could you try to _not_ give me a heart attack next time?"

"Sorry, Yuri..." The princess muttered apologetically.

Yuri just sighed and nodded in a gesture to show he accepted her apology, his dark purple long hair hanging low. He couldn't stay angry at her. He just kept his guitar hidden behind his back as he decided to try and steer the conversation away from what she possibly saw, quirking a brow at her.

"So what are you doing up?"

Estelle didn't want to make her friend uncomfortable but she was still really curious of that guitar that he was purposefully trying to hide from her view. She wanted to ask but kept her mouth shut to avoid making things awkward.

She just decided to avoid the issue for now and be honest.

"I couldn't sleep..."

"Worried about our confrontation with Phaeroh?" Asked Yuri.

Estelle nodded.

Yuri felt his heart sink a bit.

"...And you're sure you still want to go through with it? You sure you don't wanna go back to the castle?"

Estelle nodded again but with conviction this time.

"Yes." She affirmed, "I need to find out what he knows about me."

What neither of the two had realised was that Repede had also jolted up after it became clear that Estelle had come searching for the both of them. He had a sort of glint in his one good eye that basically said "that's my cue" as he started to move in opposition to his owner and circle around the back of him. Unbeknownst to Yuri, however, he meandered behind his master and nudged the guitar with his muzzle and knocked it out of his hand and caused it to tumble to the ground below.

All three eyes fell on the dropped musical instrument.

Yuri groaned, "Darn it, Repede...!"

Repede just sat back on his haunches and barked affirmatively at Yuri, seeming to urge him to tell princess the truth.

Yuri sighed. He didn't like that his dog had decided to spill his secret like this, and he could just tell that Repede had done that on purpose; he almost felt his face redden due to sheepish embarrassment. He knew Estellise had probably seen him doing more then she was letting on and was just sparing his dignity, and he decided that since she _did _find out that she may as well be in on his secret hobby.

Why he felt the need to hide it so well, not even he knew.

But he may as well say it.

"Um, Estelle," Yuri said, glancing off to the side awkwardly, "You won't tell the others about this will you?"

Estelle blinked with perplexity. She could only take away from that request that nobody knew. So not even Flynn knew of this?! Only Repede and now herself knew of Yuri's musical affinity? Why was that? She felt her eyes widen and she had to clamp her own mouth shut tight to prevent her jaw from crashing to the ground below.

Yuri must have noticed her stupefied expression (she never did have the greatest poker face) and simply laughed as he decided to justify his request with a bemused expression on his face.

"As you've probably guessed, it's just _you_ and Repede who knows about this and I don't think anyone will let me live it down if they found out."

Estelle rolled her eyes. Of course he'd try and keep his reputation and dignity intact and while he was a kind-hearted individual, it made sense that he'd want as little people as possible knowing about his secret. She almost giggled at the whole situation but stopped when she noticed Yuri glaring at her with a raised eyebrow.

She shut up immediately when she saw that.

Estelle, Yuri, and Repede all shared a rather uncomfortable silence that lasted a few moments until the princess decided to ask something.

"What were you doing up at this hour anyway? Were you having trouble sleeping too?"

Yuri nodded sincerely as he bent down and tried to pick the guitar up off the floor. Thankfully the instrument wasn't even damaged by the slightest bit and the swordsman felt very relieved about this and hugged his precious mahogany guitar close to him. He looked over at the princess and replied to the question as he rose back to stand on his feet.

"Yeah. I had a few things bothering me...like you. Sometimes I need to take a walk to think about stuff and play my guitar. Helps me think. "

This answer was followed by a second silence.

The pair of humans and single dog just didn't make a sound, unsure of how to break the ice that frozen over between them. That was when Estelle finally spoke up but she sounded nervous and ashamed for some reason —she averted her gaze from Yuri and Repede. She hoped he wouldn't mind fulfilling a request she had.

"Yuri...could...c-could you...?" She fumbled around her words sheepishly, glancing down at the ground with her face turning beet red. She couldn't help but find this ridiculously embarrassing to ask of him, especially since she had just found out a secret that he kept to himself for awhile.

Yuri tilted his head to one side but smirked knowingly, having an idea as to what she was requesting.

"Ya want me to sing again until you fall asleep?"

Estelle nodded her head rather eagerly but subtlety too, still averting her gaze to avoid looking at whatever face he was wearing out of pure humiliation of having to bother him with her problems. She never liked burdening anyone with her problems and she feared that she was doing just that now; she never liked making people do stuff for her, even though she was used to it due to both being royalty and being locked in a tower her entire life.

She wondered perhaps if Yuri could sing again.

Just to help her get some sleep tonight.

Yuri smirked wryly in amusement as he got back down to sit on the ground and then he patted a spot beside him, silently inviting her to sit next to him, and she silently obeyed and sunk down to the ground to sit next to the wanted rogue. The cool air filtered through the sleepy nighttime atmosphere as well as a slight sprinkle of Aer, causing little green orbs of light to float out of the ground and fly around like fireflies.

It created quite a serene (even romantic) environment.

The former readjusted his guitar and cradled it against his chest, getting ready to strum it once more. He lowered his eyes to look at his guitar as his fingers gently caressed the strings and felt them vibrate each time he'd merely touch each flexible brass string. He made sure to play a soft and rather quiet melody. He almost didn't even acknowledge it when he suddenly felt a weight settle on his left shoulder and he turned his head but kept playing nonetheless.

It was the pink-haired Princess.

She could not resist but lay her head on his shoulder when her consciousness started to fade into a peaceful blackness. Her eyes closed and a contented smile bloomed on to her lips as she just took in the beautiful music being played. Even Repede had fallen right back to sleep with what looked a lot like a contented grin as he curled up alongside the now-slumbering princess.

Yuri smiled gently at her and kept playing his acoustic guitar. He knew that playing it would sometimes be his only escape when his dark and bitter thoughts got to him and he had flashbacks, it would sort of be like his therapy.

He kept playing as he felt this immense calm wash over him like a ocean tidal wave.

The swordsman played for the rest of the night until dawn and, even though he felt really tired, he knew he wouldn't trade these precious moments for anything.

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**A/N: Here is my very first TOV story and its about my fave fic. This story is based off of a head canon that I now have where Yuri, like his voice actor (Troy Baker) plays the guitar and sings and I can totally see him doing this.**

**I love Yuri's character and I ship both him and Estelle so hard.**

**Don't forget to review and fave, everyone.**

**I hope you guys like this fic.**

**-Chloemcg **


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